Chapter 7
Raise Your Profile
It is important for aspiring managers to make themselves visible to those with higher authority in order to increase their prospects for promotion.
—Bernard M. Bass Author and professor emeritus, State University of New York
Take the Initiative to Be Visible
A survey was conducted in which executives were asked, “What do you feel is the single best way for employees to earn a promotion and/or raise?” Topping the list for 82 percent of respondents was “ask for more work and responsibility.”1 The advice couldn't be any clearer: If you want to gain a promotion, take the initiative and request an increase in responsibility.
Being visible requires one important trait: initiative. In the book 1001 Ways to Take Initiative at Work, author Bob Nelson explains, “By taking initiative, all employees can elevate their visibility within an organization and greatly improve their chances for recognition, learning, growth, pay raises, bonuses, and advancement for good performance.”2
However, most people resist taking on an increase in responsibility because they don't want the added burden that's associated with more work. This failure to volunteer for more projects and tasks directly affects their professional visibility. As the Harvard Business Review on Leadership states, “Getting people to assume greater responsibility is not easy. Not only are many lower-level employees comfortable being told what to do, but many managers are accustomed to treating subordinates ...
